Topline
“Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” topped the box office over the weekend with several major releases, opening with $17.2 million in the U.S., according to early estimates published in Hollywood. trade publicationsmarking another big win for anime at the domestic box office.
The anime film has already grossed over $61 million overseas before premiering in the US
Getty Images for Sony Pictures
Key facts
“Chainsaw Man” exceeded initial expectations of a $7 million-$10 million opening, even surpassing updated projections of $11 million-$15 million after showing strongly in previews.
The anime film has already grossed at least $61 million overseas after opening in Japan and other Asian markets in September.
“Chainsaw Man” is distributed by Sony’s Crunchyroll, which also distributed “Demon Slayer” – the record-shattering anime film that opened with $70 million in the US in September.
Viewers gave ‘Chainsaw Man’ an impressive A CinemaScore, with audiences and critics alike praising the film almost unanimously, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Important background
“Chainsaw Man” marks the second major box office win for Sony and Crunchyroll, the anime streaming service and distributor it acquired from AT&T in a $1.175 billion deal that closed in 2021. In September, the distributor released “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle” in the US, immediately topping the box office and breaking a decades-old record for biggest anime opening. weekend in the U.S., “Demon Slayer” has since grossed more than $589 million worldwide, making it the ninth-biggest film of the year at the box office, according to the box office. Box Office Mojo dates, and earned more than major American franchises like “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and two of Marvel’s big releases this year, “Thunderbolts*” and “Captain America: Brave New World.”
How did the Box Office perform in October?
October is on track to be one of the worst months at the domestic box office, with theaters grossing just $332 million cumulatively before this weekend. This month’s highest-grossing film so far is “Tron: Ares,” a bomb that opened to just $33.2 million in the U.S. and grossed a total of $108 million worldwide against a reported budget of $180 million. Before this month, March was the worst month at the box office, when theaters only grossed about $397 million.
How did other movies go this weekend?
‘Chainsaw Man’ was up against two other major releases from American studios: a biopic of Bruce Springsteen and an adaptation of a novel by best-selling author Colleen Hoover. “Regretting You,” the Hoover adaptation starring Allison Williams, Mckenna Grace and Dave Franco, opened with about $13 million. This placed it neck-and-neck with “Black Phone 2,” a Blumhouse horror film starring Ethan Hawke that debuted a week earlier. “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, rounded out the top four, grossing only about $9.1 million in its opening weekend. The biopic will have to continue to sell tickets to recoup its reported $55 million budget, but it appears to be connecting with the Boss’ loyal fanbase, earning an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a strong B+ CinemaScore from viewers.
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